Forestry Statistics 2020 Chapter 3: Trade

Release date: 24 September 2020

Coverage: United Kingdom

Geographical breakdown: None

Issued by: Forest Research 231 Corstorphine Road, Edinburgh, EH12 7AT

Enquiries: Robert Stagg 0300 067 5238 statistics@forestresearch.gov.uk

Statistician: Sheila Ward 0300 067 5236 Website: www.forestresearch.gov.uk/statistics/ Contents

Introduction .................................................................................................................. 3 Key findings .................................................................................................................. 4 3.1 Apparent consumption of wood in the UK......................................................... 5 3.2 Apparent consumption of wood products in the UK........................................ 8 3.3 Flow of recovered paper .................................................................................... 10 3.4 UK import quantities by product ...................................................................... 11 3.5 UK export quantities by product ....................................................................... 13 3.6 UK import values by product ............................................................................ 15 3.7 UK export values by product ............................................................................ 17 3.8 Origin of wood imports ...................................................................................... 19 Introduction

This chapter contains information about UK imports and exports of wood products, and about the level of apparent consumption estimated from data for UK production, imports and exports.

Information on imports and exports mainly comes from the Overseas Trade Statistics compiled by HM Revenue & Customs. Estimates are provided at a UK level only. International comparisons of apparent consumption are provided in the International Forestry chapter. Further information on the data sources and methodology used to compile the figures is provided in the Sources chapter.

Figures for 2019 were previously published in "UK Wood Production and Trade: 2019 Provisional Figures", released on 14 May 2020. Some figures for 2019 and earlier years have been revised from those previously published. For further details on revisions, see the Trade section of the Sources chapter.

A copy of all trade tables can be accessed in spreadsheet format from the Data Downloads web page at www.forestresearch.gov.uk/tools-and-resources/statistics/data-downloads/. Key findings

The main findings are:

UK imports:

- 7.0 million cubic metres of sawnwood in 2019, a 2% decrease from the 2018 figure;
- 3.7 million cubic metres of wood-based panels in 2019, a 6% decrease from 2018;
- 8.9 million tonnes of wood pellets in 2019, an increase of 11% from 2018;
- 5.2 million tonnes of paper in 2019, a 5% decrease from 2018.
- The total value of wood product imports in 2019 was £8.3 billion, representing a 1% increase from 2018; of which £4.1 billion was pulp and paper.
- Sawn softwood, particleboard, fibreboard, and paper and paperboard were overwhelmingly imported from EU countries in 2019.
- Sawn hardwood and wood pulp imports originated from a range of both EU and non-EU countries in 2019.
- The vast majority of UK imports of plywood and wood pellets in 2019 came from countries outside the EU.
- Apparent consumption of wood in the UK was 56.7 million m³ WRME underbark in 2019, representing a 1% increase from the previous year.

UK exports:

- The total value of wood product exports in 2019 was £1.7 billion, a 5% decrease from 2018; of which £1.5 billion was pulp and paper. 3.1 Apparent consumption of wood in the UK

Apparent consumption is the amount of timber used as wood and wood products by people and industries in the United Kingdom. It is calculated as total United Kingdom production plus imports, minus exports. Apparent consumption differs from actual consumption by the extent of changes in the level of stocks. It is not practical to collect information on actual consumption.

As table 3.1 covers a broad range of products (including secondary processed wood products), volumes are expressed in wood raw material equivalent (WRME) underbark. WRME volumes represent the amount of wood that would have been required to make the product.

UK production of roundwood totalled 10.8 million m$^3$ WRME underbark in 2019 (Table 3.1). A further 49.9 million m$^3$ WRME underbark of wood and wood products were imported to the UK and 3.9 million m$^3$ WRME underbark were exported, giving apparent consumption of 56.7 million m$^3$ WRME underbark. This represented a 1% increase in apparent consumption from the previous year. These figures exclude recycled wood and recovered paper (see Table 3.3 for statistics on recovered paper).

Imports accounted for 81% of all wood (production + imports) in the UK in 2019. Table 3.1 Apparent consumption of wood(^1) in the UK, 2010-2019

| Year | UK production(^2) | Imports | Exports | Apparent Consumption | |------|---------------------|---------|---------|----------------------| | 2010 | 9.6 | 41.6 | 5.5 | 45.8 | | 2011 | 10.0 | 40.6 | 5.2 | 45.5 | | 2012 | 10.1 | 39.6 | 6.5 | 43.2 | | 2013 | 10.8 | 42.2 | 6.2 | 46.8 | | 2014 | 11.2 | 47.0 | 4.8 | 53.4 | | 2015 | 10.6 | 49.3 | 4.1 | 55.8 | | 2016 | 10.7 | 49.6 | 3.8 | 56.5 | | 2017 | 10.9 | 50.3 | 4.2 | 57.0 | | 2018 | 11.2 | 49.1 | 3.9 | 56.3 | | 2019 | 10.8 | 49.9 | 3.9 | 56.7 |

Source: Industry surveys, industry associations, UK overseas trade statistics (HM Revenue & Customs) and conversion factors to Wood Raw Material Equivalent (WRME).

Notes:

1. Excludes recovered paper.
2. UK production of roundwood is estimated from deliveries to wood processing industries and others, as in tables 2.5 and 2.6. Figure 3.1 Apparent consumption of wood\\textsuperscript{1} in the UK, 1999-2019

Source: Industry surveys, industry associations, UK overseas trade statistics (HM Revenue & Customs) and conversion factors to Wood Raw Material Equivalent (WRME).

Notes:

1. Excludes recovered paper.
2. UK production of roundwood is estimated from deliveries to wood processing industries and others, as in tables 2.5 and 2.6. 3.2 Apparent consumption of wood products in the UK

Table 3.2 provides volumes of UK production, trade and apparent consumption in selected wood products. It differs from table 3.1 in terms of both coverage (table 3.1 covers a wider range of wood and wood products, including secondary processed products) and in terms of units (wood raw material equivalents in table 3.1, volumes of product in table 3.2).

UK production accounted for 34% of the UK sawnwood market, 50% of the UK wood-based panel market and 47% of the UK paper market in 2019 (Table 3.2). Table 3.2 Apparent consumption of wood products(^1,2) in the UK, 2019

| Product | UK production | Imports | Exports | Apparent consumption | |--------------------------------|---------------|---------|---------|----------------------| | **Sawnwood(^3)** (thousand m(^3)) | | | | | | Coniferous | 3,410 | 6,437 | 193 | 9,654 | | Non-Coniferous | 47 | 603 | 22 | 627 | | **Total** | 3,456 | 7,040 | 215 | 10,281 | | **Woodbased panels** (thousand m(^3)) | | | | | | Veneer sheets | 0 | 53 | 2 | 51 | | Plywood | 0 | 1,453 | 86 | 1,367 | | Particleboard | 2,495 | 1,247 | 234 | 3,508 | | Fibreboard | 751 | 897 | 62 | 1,586 | | **Total** | 3,246 | 3,650 | 384 | 6,512 | | **Paper & paperboard** (thousand tonnes) | | | | | | Graphic papers | 918 | 2,509 | 352 | 3,075 | | Sanitary & household papers | 762 | 313 | 7 | 1,068 | | Packaging materials | 1,884 | 2,237 | 336 | 3,785 | | Other paper & paperboard | 287 | 129 | 129 | 287 | | **Total** | 3,851 | 5,188 | 824 | 8,215 |

Source: Industry surveys, industry associations, UK overseas trade statistics (HM Revenue & Customs).

Notes:

1. Excludes other wood products, e.g. fuelwood and round fencing.
2. Excludes roundwood and intermediate products (e.g. sawmill products, pulp and recovered paper) to avoid double-counting.
3. Includes sleepers. 3.3 Flow of recovered paper

UK production of recovered paper (the amount recovered from businesses and households in the UK) totalled 7.3 million tonnes in 2019 (Table 3.3) a decrease of 3% from 2018. Imports fell by 31% and exports decreased by 4% between 2018 and 2019, resulting in a 1% fall in apparent consumption over this period.

Table 3.3 Flow of recovered paper, 2010-2019

| Year | UK production | Imports | Exports | Apparent consumption¹ | |------|---------------|---------|---------|------------------------| | 2010 | 8,003 | 115 | 4,388 | 3,730 | | 2011 | 8,036 | 177 | 4,479 | 3,733 | | 2012 | 8,099 | 160 | 4,447 | 3,812 | | 2013 | 7,901 | 184 | 4,248 | 3,837 | | 2014 | 8,014 | 136 | 4,436 | 3,714 | | 2015 | 7,912 | 305 | 4,881 | 3,336 | | 2016 | 7,825 | 125 | 4,932 | 3,018 | | 2017 | 7,772 | 107 | 4,733 | 3,147 | | 2018 | 7,539 | 120 | 4,530 | 3,129 | | 2019 | 7,348 | 83 | 4,327 | 3,104 |

Source: Confederation of Paper Industries, UK overseas trade statistics (HM Revenue & Customs).

Notes:

1. Apparent consumption of recovered paper refers to use of recycled paper pulp in the UK. 3.4 UK import quantities by product

Wood imports to the UK in 2019 included 7.0 million cubic metres of sawnwood (a 2% decrease from the previous year), 3.7 million cubic metres of wood-based panels (6% decrease), 8.9 million tonnes of wood pellets (11% increase) and 6.2 million tonnes of pulp and paper (7% decrease) (Table 3.4).

Table 3.4 UK import quantities, 2010-2019

| Year | Sawn wood² (thousand m³) | Wood-based panels³ (thousand m³) | Other wood⁴ (thousand m³) | Wood pellets (thousand tonnes) | Pulp & paper⁵ (thousand tonnes) | |------|--------------------------|---------------------------------|--------------------------|-------------------------------|---------------------------------| | 2010 | 5,699 | 2,701 | 1,071 | 551 | 8,462 | | 2011 | 4,936 | 2,827 | 985 | 1,015 | 8,073 | | 2012 | 5,179 | 2,650 | 965 | 1,487 | 7,812 | | 2013 | 5,488 | 2,964 | 1,267 | 3,432 | 7,213 | | 2014 | 6,425 | 3,260 | 1,329 | 4,773 | 7,319 | | 2015 | 6,323 | 3,215 | 1,378 | 6,573 | 7,560 | | 2016 | 6,794 | 3,410 | 1,121 | 6,782 | 7,092 | | 2017 | 7,663 | 3,800 | 1,379 | 6,885 | 6,798 | | 2018 | 7,213 | 3,878 | 1,766 | 7,992 | 6,663 | | 2019 | 7,040 | 3,650 | 2,229 | 8,878 | 6,168 |

Source: UK overseas trade statistics (HM Revenue & Customs), industry associations

Notes:

1. There are reliability concerns for some of these figures, particularly for individual products (see Sources chapter).
2. Sawnwood includes sleepers from 2017.
3. Includes veneer sheets.
4. Includes roundwood, wood charcoal, chips, particles, residues and from 2017, includes recovered wood.
5. Further details of pulp and paper import quantities are provided in table 3.4a. Paper accounted for the majority of pulp and paper imports, with a total of 5.2 million tonnes imported in 2019 (Table 3.4a). This represented a 5% decrease from the previous year.

Table 3.4a UK import quantities, 2010-2019(^1): Pulp and paper

| Year | Paper | Pulp | Recovered paper | Total Pulp & Paper | |------|-------|------|-----------------|--------------------| | 2010 | 7,254 | 1,094| 115 | 8,462 | | 2011 | 6,887 | 1,009| 177 | 8,073 | | 2012 | 6,631 | 1,021| 160 | 7,812 | | 2013 | 5,929 | 1,100| 184 | 7,213 | | 2014 | 5,949 | 1,234| 136 | 7,319 | | 2015 | 6,032 | 1,223| 305 | 7,560 | | 2016 | 5,876 | 1,092| 125 | 7,092 | | 2017 | 5,610 | 1,081| 107 | 6,798 | | 2018 | 5,477 | 1,066| 120 | 6,663 | | 2019 | 5,188 | 897 | 83 | 6,168 |

Source: UK overseas trade statistics (HM Revenue & Customs), industry associations

1. There are reliability concerns for some of these figures, particularly for individual products (see Sources chapter). 3.5 UK export quantities by product

A total of 5.2 million tonnes of pulp and paper (including recovered paper) was exported from the UK in 2019 (Table 3.5), representing a 3% decrease from 2018.

Table 3.5 UK export quantities, 2010-2019

| Year | Sawn wood (thousand m³) | Wood-based panels (thousand m³) | Other wood (thousand m³) | Wood pellets (thousand tonnes) | Pulp & paper (thousand tonnes) | |------|-------------------------|---------------------------------|-------------------------|-------------------------------|-------------------------------| | 2010 | 195 | 509 | 1,029 | 60 | 5,349 | | 2011 | 162 | 546 | 1,430 | 38 | 5,485 | | 2012 | 141 | 597 | 1,779 | 54 | 5,585 | | 2013 | 167 | 432 | 1,267 | 106 | 5,390 | | 2014 | 175 | 404 | 1,083 | 98 | 5,467 | | 2015 | 187 | 286 | 1,018 | 88 | 5,712 | | 2016 | 193 | 314 | 810 | 21 | 5,700 | | 2017 | 218 | 374 | 638 | 126 | 5,528 | | 2018 | 238 | 295 | 595 | 63 | 5,317 | | 2019 | 215 | 384 | 604 | 33 | 5,160 |

Source: UK overseas trade statistics (HM Revenue & Customs), industry associations

Notes:

1. There are reliability concerns for some of these figures, particularly for individual products (see Sources chapter).
2. Includes roundwood, wood charcoal, chips, particles, residues and, from 2017, includes recovered wood.
3. Includes veneer sheets.
4. Sawnwood includes sleepers from 2017.
5. Further details of pulp and paper export quantities are provided in table 3.5a. Recovered paper accounted for the majority of pulp and paper exports, with 4.3 million tonnes exported in 2019 (Table 3.5a).

Table 3.5a UK export quantities, 2010-2019(^1): Pulp and paper

| Year | Paper | Pulp | Recovered paper | Total Pulp & Paper | |------|-------|------|-----------------|--------------------| | 2010 | 926 | 35 | 4,388 | 5,349 | | 2011 | 974 | 32 | 4,479 | 5,485 | | 2012 | 1,102 | 36 | 4,447 | 5,585 | | 2013 | 1,119 | 23 | 4,248 | 5,390 | | 2014 | 1,010 | 21 | 4,436 | 5,467 | | 2015 | 807 | 24 | 4,881 | 5,712 | | 2016 | 760 | 7 | 4,932 | 5,700 | | 2017 | 788 | 7 | 4,733 | 5,528 | | 2018 | 772 | 15 | 4,530 | 5,317 | | 2019 | 824 | 9 | 4,327 | 5,160 |

Source: UK overseas trade statistics (HM Revenue & Customs), industry associations

Notes:

1. There are reliability concerns for some of these figures, particularly for individual products (see Sources chapter). 3.6 UK import values by product

Wood product imports in 2019 were valued at a total of £8.3 billion, a 1% increase from 2018 (Table 3.6).

Pulp and paper (including recovered paper) imports were valued at £4.1 billion in 2019 (almost half of the total value of wood product imports). Sawnwood imports were valued at £1.6 billion in 2019, wood-based panels at £1.1 billion and wood pellets at £1.3 billion.

Table 3.6 UK import values, 2010-2019

| Year | Sawnwood | Wood-based panels | Other wood | Wood pellets | Pulp & Paper | Total | |------|----------|-------------------|------------|-------------|-------------|-------| | 2010 | 1,199 | 781 | 110 | 69 | 4,607 | 6,765 | | 2011 | 1,080 | 838 | 79 | 129 | 4,696 | 6,822 | | 2012 | 1,084 | 791 | 75 | 185 | 4,266 | 6,402 | | 2013 | 1,180 | 882 | 88 | 412 | 4,165 | 6,727 | | 2014 | 1,420 | 936 | 80 | 547 | 4,196 | 7,180 | | 2015 | 1,311 | 957 | 88 | 780 | 4,375 | 7,510 | | 2016 | 1,423 | 1,010 | 85 | 915 | 4,003 | 7,436 | | 2017 | 1,636 | 1,155 | 90 | 961 | 4,004 | 7,845 | | 2018 | 1,743 | 1,201 | 122 | 1,117 | 4,075 | 8,257 | | 2019 | 1,598 | 1,134 | 184 | 1,309 | 4,076 | 8,301 |

Source: UK overseas trade statistics (HM Revenue & Customs), industry associations

Notes:

1. There are reliability concerns for some of these figures, particularly for individual products (see Sources chapter).
2. Sawnwood includes sleepers from 2017.
3. Includes veneer sheets.
4. Includes roundwood, wood charcoal, chips, particles, residues and from 2017, includes recovered wood.
5. Further details of pulp and paper import values are provided in table 3.6a. Paper imports were valued at £3.5 billion in 2019, a 4% increase from the previous year (Table 3.6a).

Table 3.6a UK import values, 2010-2019(^1): Pulp and paper

| Year | Paper | Pulp | Recovered paper | Total Pulp & Paper | |------|-------|------|-----------------|--------------------| | 2010 | 3,997 | 593 | 17 | 4,607 | | 2011 | 4,049 | 613 | 34 | 4,696 | | 2012 | 3,727 | 519 | 21 | 4,266 | | 2013 | 3,644 | 500 | 21 | 4,165 | | 2014 | 3,667 | 509 | 19 | 4,196 | | 2015 | 3,711 | 642 | 23 | 4,375 | | 2016 | 3,434 | 557 | 13 | 4,003 | | 2017 | 3,418 | 572 | 14 | 4,004 | | 2018 | 3,415 | 639 | 21 | 4,075 | | 2019 | 3,538 | 520 | 17 | 4,076 |

Source: UK overseas trade statistics (HM Revenue & Customs), industry associations Notes:

1. There are reliability concerns for some of these figures, particularly for individual products (see Sources chapter). 3.7 UK export values by product

Wood product exports from the UK were valued at a total of £1.7 billion in 2019, a 5% decrease from the 2018 total (Table 3.7). Total exports of wood products in 2019 comprised 87% pulp and paper, 7% wood-based panels, 3% sawnwood and 2% other wood.

Table 3.7 UK export values, 2010-2019

| Year | Sawnwood | Wood-based panels | Other wood | Wood pellets | Pulp & Paper | Total | |------|----------|-------------------|------------|-------------|-------------|-------| | 2010 | 47 | 113 | 35 | 7 | 1,610 | 1,812 | | 2011 | 41 | 128 | 50 | 3 | 1,650 | 1,872 | | 2012 | 34 | 130 | 51 | 4 | 1,589 | 1,807 | | 2013 | 37 | 109 | 47 | 5 | 1,519 | 1,717 | | 2014 | 43 | 107 | 39 | 2 | 1,480 | 1,672 | | 2015 | 44 | 75 | 35 | 1 | 1,441 | 1,597 | | 2016 | 50 | 91 | 26 | 0 | 1,307 | 1,473 | | 2017 | 55 | 109 | 41 | 6 | 1,651 | 1,861 | | 2018 | 64 | 103 | 41 | 5 | 1,597 | 1,810 | | 2019 | 58 | 123 | 41 | 2 | 1,491 | 1,714 |

Source: UK overseas trade statistics (HM Revenue & Customs), industry associations Notes:

1. There are reliability concerns for some of these figures, particularly for individual products (see Sources chapter).
2. Sawnwood includes sleepers from 2017.
3. Includes veneer sheets.
4. Includes roundwood, wood charcoal, chips, particles, residues and from 2017, includes recovered wood.
5. Further details of pulp and paper export values are provided in table 3.7a. Paper exports were valued at £1.0 billion in 2019, accounting for 70% of all pulp and paper exports (Table 3.7a).

Table 3.7a UK export values, 2010-2019(^1): Pulp and paper

| Year | Paper | Pulp | Recovered paper | Total Pulp & Paper | |------|-------|------|-----------------|--------------------| | 2010 | 1,068 | 18 | 524 | 1,610 | | 2011 | 1,044 | 11 | 595 | 1,650 | | 2012 | 1,048 | 10 | 531 | 1,589 | | 2013 | 1,017 | 8 | 494 | 1,519 | | 2014 | 997 | 7 | 476 | 1,480 | | 2015 | 901 | 7 | 534 | 1,441 | | 2016 | 838 | 4 | 465 | 1,307 | | 2017 | 997 | 5 | 649 | 1,651 | | 2018 | 1,022 | 5 | 570 | 1,597 | | 2019 | 1,049 | 4 | 437 | 1,491 |

Source: UK overseas trade statistics (HM Revenue & Customs), industry associations

Notes:

1. There are reliability concerns for some of these figures, particularly for individual products (see Sources chapter). 3.8 Origin of wood imports

Table 3.8 presents data on the source of selected wood products that have been imported into the UK in 2019.

Sawn softwood, particleboard, fibreboard, and paper and paperboard were overwhelmingly imported from EU countries in 2019 (Table 3.8):

- Sweden (42%), Latvia (18%) and Finland (14%) provided the majority of imports of sawn softwood to the UK.
- Most particleboard imports to the UK came from Germany (26%), France (19%) and Ireland (14%).
- Ireland (31%), Germany (20%), Belgium and Spain (both 10%) were the principal sources of fibreboard imports.
- Most paper and paperboard imports came from Sweden (18%), Germany (16%) and Finland (15%).

Sawn hardwood and wood pulp imports originated from a range of both EU and non-EU countries in 2019:

- Estonia (14%), the USA (13%), Latvia (11%) and France (10%) provided almost one half of sawn hardwood imports to the UK.
- Sweden (30%) and Brazil (29%) provided over one half of wood pulp imports to the UK.

The vast majority of UK imports of plywood and wood pellets came from countries outside the EU in 2018:

- China (37%) and Brazil (20%) were the principal sources of plywood imports to the UK.
- The USA (62%) and Canada (18%) provided the majority of wood pellet imports to the UK. Table 3.8 Country of origin of wood imports to the UK, 2019 per cent of total UK imports (volume) in each category

| Source | Sawn soft wood | Sawn hard wood | Plywood | Particle-board | Fibre-board | Pellets | Wood pulp | Paper and paper-board | |--------------|----------------|----------------|---------|----------------|-------------|---------|-----------|-----------------------| | Sweden | 42 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 18 | | Germany | 7 | 3 | 1 | 26 | 20 | 0 | 3 | 16 | | Finland | 14 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 15 | | Latvia | 18 | 11 | 1 | 11 | 9 | 10 | 0 | 0 | | France | 0 | 10 | 8 | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 6 | | Ireland | 6 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 1 | | Netherlands | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 4 | | Italy | 0 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | | Austria | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | | Belgium | 1 | 1 | 1 | 12 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 2 | | Portugal | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | | Spain | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 2 | | Poland | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | | Estonia | 2 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | | Other EU | 3 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | | **Total EU** | **94** | **67** | **20** | **98** | **92** | **17** | **59** | **77** | | USA | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 62 | 1 | 4 | | Canada | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 3 | | Brazil | 0 | 1 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 1 | | China | 0 | 0 | 37 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | | Russia | 5 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | | Norway | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | | Indonesia | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | | Chile | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 | | Malaysia | 0 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | | Cameroon | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | Other non-EU | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | | **Total non-EU** | **6** | **33** | **80** | **2** | **8** | **83** | **41** | **23** | Figure 3.2 shows the main sources of imports of sawn softwood to the UK since 1962. The total level of sawn softwood imports has fluctuated between around 5 million m$^3$ and 10 million m$^3$ from 1962 to present. Imports to the UK from Canada have reduced substantially since the early 1990s. In contrast imports from the Baltic States increased between 1992 and 2003 and, although there was some decline between 2003 to 2012, imports from the Baltic States to the UK have started to increase again in recent years. Since 1993 Sweden has consistently been the principal country of origin for UK sawn softwood imports.

Figure 3.2 Country of origin of sawn softwood$^1$ imports to the UK, 1962-2019

Source: FAO, UK overseas trade statistics (HM Revenue & Customs), industry associations. Notes:

1. Sawn softwood imports in this chart exclude sleepers.